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A Cumbria brewer has levelled serious charges against the BBC that it is deliberately ignoring beer in favour of imported plonk.

Dave Bailey, of the Hardknott brewery in Millom, reckons the Corporation's foodie output is heavily biased towards wine, and is therefore "deliberately and recklessly damaging the UK economy by its unreasonable and deliberate rejection of beer as a beverage to drink with food".

He said: "I know of many well respected beer writers who have approached the BBC to try and raise awareness of this country’s great hand-crafted beers, brewed not just in Cumbria but nationally. However, time and time again it is only wine that gets given airtime."

To show he means business, Bailey has raised the matter with telly watchdog Ofcom. In his complaint, he describes beer as "the indigenous drink of Great Britain", which is "deliberately omitted from Saturday Kitchen".

He adds: "Drinking alcohol when eating is a much more responsible activity than heavy drinking sessions when no food is consumed. The BBC, in omitting beer from one of its prime time food programs is alienating beer drinkers from the healthy activity of moderate drinking whilst eating; therefore the BBC is being reckless with the nation's health."

Just to make sure Auntie knows where its alcoholic responsibilities lie, Bailey describes it as "our national broadcasting authority, which is paid for by a tax on television ownership", and that its promotion of "wine in named supermarkets without also giving air time to quality British beer brands is unacceptable bias for a public funded organisation". ®